Lack of activity in the sales funnel is the single biggest contributor to lack of success in sales, and your sales pipeline is the hub.  It remains the single most important metric for success.  “Keep your pipeline full” is a message that is spread from sales leaders daily, and the salesperson must have a full pipeline continuously to achieve desired results.

 According to Jeb Blount, top producers and sales superstars are fanatical prospectors who take personal responsibility for identifying and creating their own sales opportunities.  Keeping track of the qualified leads can be a challenge, especially for the typical outside sales rep.  HubSpot’s CRM has deal stages, and they can be tracked from Prospect to Close.  Here are my tips on the best way to utilize the deal stages.  

  1. Customize your deal stages

The typical sales rep has developed a way of managing their pipeline and are very weary of making changes, especially when introduced to a new CRM tool.  Never fear, HubSpot is here!  They have  have made all of their stages completely customizable for each user, and it is user friendly. 

  2. Probability Settings

All of the stages also have a probability attached to it which is a valuable reporting metric.  For example, a scheduled appointment has a 20% probability to close, and a qualifying call has a 40% probability to close.  A great reporting metric for weekly sales team meetings to show activity for the year.

  3. Associations

Deals are created in the company section of the CRM and can be associated with any contact within that company.  Several decision makers are brought in through various stages of the process and all can be associated with the deal for communication purposes.  All of the information remains in one spot.  

  4. Document, Schedule and Remind

Within the Deal Stages, there is a place for taking notes while you are on a call, or the call can be recorded.  This is an ideal feature if a ton of calls are being made during “windshield time”.  Imagine being on a call and not having to pull over to take notes?  Genius.  Future appointments can be scheduled as well and will merge with your existing calendar.  

  5. Track Revenue

Each deal has a value and can track the revenue earned for the company.  Whether a one time fee or a monthly retainer it can be customized accordingly.  The deals that are closed will track as closed/won or closed/lost and a financial report will show earnings.  The report can be filtered to show monthly, quarterly or yearly.

Most salespeople have a their own unique selling style and having a system that is adaptable is a key for success.   HubSpot’s deal stages make tracking sales easy and reportable through their remarkable CRM.